HELLYEAH’s Chad Gray on New Track “Welcome Home,” Carrying on the Legacy of Vinnie Paul

HELLYEAH dropped their latest single and video today with “Welcome Home,” the title track from the band’s upcoming sixth studio album which features the final recordings of drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott.

The band is soldiering on with Stone Sour drummer Roy Mayorga filling in on their U.S. tour this summer, and in a recent conversation on Talkin’ Rock with Meltdown, singer Chad Gray explained how the track serves as a tribute to the late Vinnie Paul:

“It was actually the first song we wrote…That song through the process of writing it named itself that…And then, obviously, we went through what we went through, and we did feel that it was appropriate, because we do believe that Vinnie went home to his brother [Dimebag Darrell Abbott] and his mother. It’s kind of an homage to him with the song title, but it was a song title first. As we kept going and got to the end of the record and there were all these names being thrown back-and-forth, and I just said, ‘Why don’t we just call it ‘Welcome Home’?’ And everyone was like, ‘Okay.’ You can’t argue with it.”

Coping with the loss of Vinnie Paul and carrying on his legacy is certainly no easy task, but Gray explained how the late drummer set the example to accomplish such a feat:

“What’s making this process easier for us to move forward and to ‘keep on keepin’ on’ in his own words is that Vinnie was probably the best teacher we could have ever had as far as how to carry on the legacy of someone. He took such pride in carrying on his brother’s legacy, and we just fell right in line with that. That was the HELLYEAH mission was to keep Dime’s name and legacy alive. So, that’s absolutely what we’re going to do…The role that he [Vinnie Paul] played in HELLYEAH and what HELLYEAH played in his life did help fill some of that void [when Dimebag Darrell died], because he knew that his brother would want him to play. And he did his mourning and grieving, and he got through it and came back to doing what he loved. I think he knew Dime was very proud of him for doing that, for taking such a big step, and I think he really embraced that.”

Welcome Home will be released on September 27 and is currently available for pre-order here. Tickets for HELLYEAH’s summer U.S. tour go on sale today. Complete ticket information can be found at HELLYEAHband.com. To honor the memory of Vinnie Paul, whose death was ruled as a result of heart disease, HELLYEAH will donate $1 of every ticket sold to the American Heart Association.

This interview can be heard in its entirety below.

Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.

Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.